NEW YORK — U.S. officials emphasized the benefits of President Joe Biden’s signature climate law — and the need for continued action — as Climate Week NYC kicked off Sunday.
“We’re on the right path here in the U.S. and around the world. The momentum is on our side,” White House senior adviser John Podesta told a packed theater in New York City’s Times Square. “But we need to accelerate — and that starts now.”
The flurry of climate events coincides with the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future, a side event focused on reforming the U.N. system to better respond to modern-day challenges such as conflict and climate change. The General Assembly adopted a “Pact for the Future” on Sunday that includes a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels.
The possibility of a second Trump administration hangs over the week’s meetings, with less than two months to go before the presidential elections. Former President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax and said he would pull the U.S. out of the U.N.-brokered Paris Agreement if he retakes the White House.
